Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1887-01-07
THE SIGN BEARER.

point of fact, nothing but a PER- Datetic
sandwich he is apt to grow Indifferent to
small points of etiquette and to the social
exactions that demand prefix to gen.
tleman S name when he is addressed.
For old Sandy was a gentleman in
spite of the fact that there was nothing
visible of him above the sign board, SO
to speak. but pair of dropping Shout
ders inadequately covered with rusty
tweed coat; a weather beaten neck, in
which some of the cords seemed to have
acquired undue prominence by reason of
the heavy boards swung by straps across
his dropping shoulders; a careworn face,
forever redeemed from insignificance by
pair of mild gray eyes that had caught
a commercial trick of looking very per-
suasively into the face of every passerby,
as he supplemented the big lettered an
nouncements of his boards 10y futter-
ing rose coored leaflet extended in
tremulous brown hand thin, wind blown
gray hair and disreputable hat that alb
solutely refused to locate itself chrono-
logically in the calendar of fashion.
That was the upper man Sandy. Sandy
below the boards was principally notice
able on the occasion i'll question for
pair of brand new shoes that apparently
squeaked in uncomfortable amusement
at finding themselves on such feet. with
such absurd accompanimcnts as those
immensely ragged trowser ends and
those brilliantly painted rims to Sandy's
sandwich boards. which set forth in the
most positive language the location of
the finest and cheapest shoe backing to
be found in all New York city or per-
haps in the world
Few. indeed. let them be ever so pune
tiliously inclined. would have known to
call old Sandy but just that; for it
seemed to go beyond the memory of man
when he had not formed one of a solemn
procession of thin sandwiches. ranging
according to height, tall, taller, tallest,
that plodded patiently up one side of
Broadway and down the other, proclaim
ing the same excellence of the same shoe
backing with the same patient indiffer-
ence to the changes of the weather as to
the changes in the political horizon;
with the same stolid acceptance of the
jostling that was inevitable when their
unyielding boards came in sharp contact
with the swift rushing tide of humanity
that now swept with them and now
against them.
But hearts must trob, even under the
heavy pressure of sandwich boards, and
it was because the front man in the pro-
cession, "tallest, knew that old Sandys
had occasion to beat somewhat sorrow
fully just then that he turned and asked
him question on that bright but blus-
tering morning, not urgently, only alb
ruptly for want of time
'How's the Midge!"
"Wurse"
There come moments of relaxation and
refreshment even into sandwiched lives,
and when old Sandy s companions broke
ranks on that day to go to lunch he
separated himself from them and. drop
ping his slow commercial march step,
walked as rapidly as he could for the
rigid lmpediments on his shoulders east
ward, ever eastward. until he reached
the dreary neighborhood of Hester street,
where he turned abruptly into door
that stood open and clattered up stairs,
his brand new shoes creaking vocifer-
ously on the bare boards of the steep and
dirty steps, his imprisoning boards
humping on the step above him as he
mounted hastily up two flights and
stopped suddenly at door Immediately
in front of him and knocked twice The
first knock sounded trifle apologize,
the second a trifle impatient; both fail
ing of recognition, he cautiously turned
the handle and peeped into the room.
1t was not an interior calculated to fas-
clnate the gaze, nevertheless old Sandy
stood there quite awhile looking in with
out making any motion toward entering
The room was dark, not for want of
windows, for it boosted of three, but
what with the opaque newspapers that
supplied the place of numerous miss
ing panes of glass and the old shawl and
old quilts that had been pinned up as
high as woman's arm could reach to
keep the wind at bay, and the unwashed
condition of the upper sash, the reflec-
ton of the bright sunlight that was
flooding the streets old Sandy had Just
left was reduced to it's minimum. Such
sunshine, however, as did penetrate into
the dingy room fell direct upon three
cages full of canary birds that swung
high up against the unwashed upper
sash, and when Sandy opened the door
they were rejoicing in it with an exuber-
ance of vocal content that seemed almost
insolent in its contrast with the sadness
and stiffness of their surroundings
AS Sandy's eyes got used to the OBJ
security they became conscious of an
other pair of eyes fastened on his own
with sort of imploring intensity
They looked immensely large, staring at
him there from the cradle in front of the
sullen stove, but perhaps it was because
they were set in such an exceedingly
small face from which all the flesh
seemed to have worn away, leaving the
dry skin drawn like drumhead over
the baby cheek bones. Two meager arms
terminating in two claw like hands were
outstretched in mute appeal toward old
Sandy. But no sound came from the